By Kimberly Peterson
It is the ultimate battle in hockey: goaltender versus goaltender. In duels like these, one goal could spell the difference between victory or defeat for the combatants.
Despite a sparkling 37-save effort this past weekend against St. Lawrence University, Northeastern netminder Chanda Gunn and her team walked away form Matthews Arena with a 2-1 loss.
The loss leaves the Huskies with a 1-3-0 record and brings St. Lawrence to an impressive 3-0-1.
“We didn’t play a complete game, and that’s what we need to have,” said coach Joy Woog. “We didn’t have it against Wisconsin, we didn’t have it against Vermont, and we didn’t have it today. We need to learn to play 60-minutes as opposed to 20 or 30.”
NU came out flying in the first period, but were matched by the equally eager Saints. A defensive battle prevented either team from getting on the board for almost 40-minutes.
The second period saw Gunn facing 18 shots, most of which came on the power play, and the frustration from SLU’s bench was as clear as the cheers from the Northeastern fans. Gunn stopped several shots from up close as well as rebounds. Wherever the puck went, she was there.
Yet despite only putting 14 shots on goal in the second, NU was still able to strike first. The line of seniors Pamela Pachal and Brooke White, along with sophomore Lori DiGiacomo, paid big dividends for the Huskies again as they scored their first goal at 19:38 of the second.
Freshman defenseman Rebecca Peters sent the puck out of the Huskies end to an open White, she then quickly ripped a pass to a rushing Pachal, who collided with Barrie knocking in the puck.
“I just saw Pam coming and she backed up the goalie and it went in. Hey, they all count,” said White.
One of the problems that haunted the Huskies this weekend was the abundance of time they spent in the penalty box. Through 60-minutes of play, NU amassed five penalties to SLU’s two. They proved costly near the end of the match, resulting in the tying goal at 8:49 of the third.
“To have the momentum for two periods, to make all those saves, then to let in a goal, and all of a sudden have your team tied,” said Gunn of her disappointment.
The Saints’ Gina Kingsbury took a slapper and despite stopping the initial shot, Gunn was unable to get to the rebound, which entered the net stick-side.
“We lost the game with a lot of penalties,” said freshman Rebecca Paul. “We need to play smart and try not to retaliate. Take the body, but don’t take it too far.”
The game remained tied until 12:40 when Saints player Kingsbury snuck around from behind the net and passed the puck to Rebecca Russell setting her up to shoot the puck past a screened Gunn for the game winner.
“The unfortunate thing about playing goal is that you’re always down one, unless you get a shut out and then you break even. So you don’t really count the saves that you make in a game, you count the goals, and I let up two goals,” said Gunn.
What comes out of this loss is a team that is starting to prove they can play with the best.
“I think today, just to show that we could play, keeping a game that close, playing with that highly ranked of a team, and we can have a lead this early in the season, really shows how strong and talented we are,” said Gunn
The Huskies could have an easy weekend ahead of them as they take on the 1-2 Boston College Eagles. It will be the inaugural game of the new women’s Hockey East conference for Northeastern.
